Customer Reviews

The Simpsons: The Complete First Season

5 star:		(345)
4 star:		(117)
3 star:		(39)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

À noter que la traduction française n'est pas celle du Québec, mais celle de la France. Pensez-y deux fois avant d'acheter. Vous trouverez la traduction du Québec à partir de la deuxième saison.

I was one of those fans who watched The Simpsons from the very start; back in those days, even at college, all we had were rabbit ears to pick up the less than clear local Fox station - some folks back then, in 1989, still did not even have a local Fox station. Things have changed a whole lot since the thirteen-episode first season of this classic comedy, but in many ways The Simpsons has not. As I write this, the show's still going strong and building upon the work done all those years ago. While there was a bit of experimentation back in the early days, the characters emerged fully formed from the very first show. It's quite a treat to be able to watch these first thirteen episodes in order again and to reflect back upon the controversy and instant impact this animated show immediately made on popular culture.

I was amazed at how vibrant and familiar these first shows seemed; it seems like only yesterday that I was introduced to Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie, and all the denizens of Springfield. Every episode here is a classic. Watching There's No Disgrace Like Home, the third episode, I was unexpectedly taken back to the very beginning of Simpsons mania as I watched the Simpsons repeatedly administer shocks to themselves to the consternation of family therapist Marvin Monroe. And who could forget the terrible ordeal Bart endured at the hands of two French cretins (or little Adil Hoxha, foreign exchange student from Albania - a legend in the lore of Simpsons trivia) in The Crepes of Wrath. In terms of pure hilarity, look no farther than Homer's Night Out, in which Homer becomes the swingingest swinger in town and elicits a plea for help in the ladies' department from none other than Mr. Skinner himself. The first memorable guest performers also lended their special magic to the show early on: Penny Marshall as the baby-sitting bandit in Some Enchanted Evening, Kelsey Grammer as Sideshow Bob in Krusty Gets Busted, and Albert Brooks as the RV salesman in Call of the Simpsons and Jacque, Marge's French admirer and bowling instructor in Life On the Fast Lane. I could write a paragraph about every single episode, as each one is a classic.

The commentary for each episode is fabulous, as a whole gaggle of the geniuses who brought the show to life come together to laugh at the best bits, talk about the show's genesis and evolution during this experimental first season, and provide fans with all kinds of trivia and juicy tidbits about the whole Simpsons phenomenon. You can clearly see the show develop with each passing episode, particularly in terms of the level of detail in the animation and, to some degree, the voices. With the help of the commentaries, you get a whole new perspective on Homer and the gang. One can't help but be impressed by the way each character was developed early on, the chemistry that quickly emerged between all the characters, and the way in which serious issues were explored in such a comedic manner. Gosh, you had Marge and Homer's marriage on the rocks in a couple of episodes, Bart's deportation to France for his excessive shenanigans at school, the capture of Bart and Lisa by a wanted criminal, the framing and imprisonment of Krusty, the problem of illiteracy, etc. This show really had it all, right from the very start.

I don't know why I waited so long to add The Simpsons Season One to my DVD collection, but I can't wait to get all of the seasons on DVD. After 15+ years, it's easy to take this show for granted, but this Season One DVD with all of its extras has reawakened my old passion for this incredible television show. Speaking of extras, you get a look here at the first animated version of the show, and it's just as horrible as Matt Groening and the other Simpsons bigwigs said it was. You have to see it to believe it. After seeing that, you realize more than ever how lucky we are to have The Simpsons in our lives.

This is a must buy for sure. The episodes may look badly animated, and they may not be as funny as the newer episodes, but I still laughed and laughed as the Simpsons crawled their way to fame. The Simpsons is the funniest tv show out there along side Family Guy. As for the episodes in this collection
well I can't complain. They are a very good start. There is only one episode in this season I didn't like and that was Moaning Lisa. I'll rate each episode out of 10.

Simpsons Roating On An Open Fire....7/10

Bart The Genius....7/10

Homers Odyssey....6/10

There's No Disgrace Like Home....8/10

Bart The General....8/10

Moaning Lisa....5/10 (The only episode I didn't really care for)

Call Of The Simpsons....8/10

The Telltale Head....7/10

Life On The Fast Lane....7/10

Homer's Night Out....6/10

The Crepes Of Wrath....9/10 (My favorite episode of the season)

Krusty Gets Busted....8/10

Some Enchanted Evening....7/10

So, I really recommend this set because you get to see the Simpsons back when they first came out. And soon we should have all the 15 seasons on dvd.

I'm not trying to make The Simpsons sound like a bad show or anything because it's one of my favourites, but the first season they were still working out a lot of the kinks, finding their identity. The episodes are "fine" which is the reason for the 3-star rating, but not the great ones that they started doing once season 2 started.

This set is strictly for completists (like myself), although the comments by Matt Groening on the inside of the cover should be worth an extra half-star.

It's good, but ALL the other seasons are better.

The rough animation and slower humor of the first season is in sharp contrast to the caustic satire of politics and the American lifestyle the writers would adopt for later seasons of the Simpsons. The show also relies heavily on the antics of the "bad-boy" behavior of Bart, evidenced by the prank phone calls and generally sub-par intellect of Bart that would be phased out by the third season, moving more to the socially relevant scripts.
In December 1989, America got it's first glimpse at the Simpsons in it's half hour format, with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", in which we see an early critique through the Simpson writers of the prototypical American family. Being the first produced half hour episode of the historic franchise, the Simpsons' wily dog Santa's Little Helper is absent in "Bart the Genious", which showcases the underachieving intellect of Bart that would be symbollic of the show in it's earlier years.
The show in it's first season borrows much of the personalities from it's time as crude filler material on The Tracey Ullman Show, taking another season to evolve to what the show would become for the next 6 years. Also, in the 13 episodes, the writers were very eclectic in the selection of characters as the center of each episode.
The season should be an eye opener to people as to how shows evolve over the course of years. The Simpsons in it's incipient stages on DVD is a must have for any fan.

Don't get me wrong. I bought the DVD set, and I'm glad to have it. But that doesn't change the fact that these are some of the weakest "Simpsons" episodes ever made.

Of course, it's important to remember two things:
- Even a bad "Simpsons' episode is better than the best episode of, say, "The Family Guy."
- It's easy to diss "The Simpsons"' season 1 in hindsight, having seen the great things that were to come. On its own, season 1's not bad at all.

Of the episodes on this disk, my favorites are "Bart the Genius," "Bart the General," and "Moaning Lisa." Other than audio commentary by Matt Groening and others involved in the production of "The Simpsons," the special features aren't particularly exciting. The purported "unaired episode" is just an unaired version of "Some Enchanted Evening" (the one with the Babysitter Bandit).

I'm still giving this DVD 4 stars. Why? As a sign of things to come -- I'm *really* looking forward to the Seasons 2-10 DVDs -- and because it's nice to have the episodes available uncut after so many years of watching them in syndication.

This set represents the first of an expected 12 (more?) seasons of the Simpsons to be released on DVD. The current plan is to release 2-3 seasons a year. The second season will be released in time for Christmas.

Since the first season was shorter, this first disc has many extras. First, all of the shorts from the Tracy Ullman show will be there. Also, there will be a "lost" episode included.

Fox must be commended in releasing these discs. When they were preparing to release the discs, they went to the fans, and asked how we would like them released. As season packs? How many extras? How often? Rarely does a publisher care that much.

Specific Contents:

There are 48 shorts from 3 seasons (1987-1989) of the Tracy Ullman Show.

The first season (1989-1990) includes:
7G08 Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire
7G02 Bart the Genius
7G03 Homer's Odyssey
7G04 There's No Disgrace Like Home
7G05 Bart the General
7G06 Moaning Lisa

7G09 Call of the Simpsons
7G07 The Tell-Tale Head
7G11 Jacques To Be Wild (aka Life on the Fast Lane)
7G10 Homer's Night Out
7G13 The Crepes of Wrath
7G12 Krusty Gets Busted
7G01 Some Enchanted Evening

The Simpsons is the longest running comedy, longest running prime time animated series, and is definately some of the wisest, best written comedy and satire ever put on TV. God Bless Fox for giving them all to us.

No Quebec French traduction it's a bad thing! They lost a lot of people in Quebec for this first box released They should re release with the adjustement made!
thanks

The simpson back in the late 80s started as comic strips then they began on the tracey ulman show then they got their own show.Without this season shows such as south park,family guy,and king of the hill and many others would not exist lets face it the simpson paved the way for prime-time shows and are an imporatant show on t.v.

this season contains classic episodes such as the 89`christmas special wich was the first episode,bart the general,moaning lissa,krusty gets busted and many others.ok maybe it contains 13 episodes only so what they are all great and the set is about the cheapest price for dvd sets.if these episodes would not have exist then t.v would suck right now.

this is a piece of t.v history and when the simpsons will stop that will mark the end of an era.they will leave in glory with many emmy awards.so do yourself a favor and buy this!recomended to everyone!

the simpsons christmas special;homer and marge`s savings for christmas look for what will be a great christmas until marge uses the christmas money to erase a tatoo bart got made on his shoulder.homer then learn he wont have christmas bonus and decides to work as a santa claus only to get 13$.he then bring santa`s little helper to the family as a gift.

bart the genius;bart change copie with martin on an intelligence test and goes to genius school until he admit he isnt a gifted child.

homer`s odyssey;homer gets fired and then wants to suicide but his family stops him and he then protest against the nuclear central until he gets hired back.

there`s no disgrace like home;after the central picinc homer thinks he has the worst family in town and a family appointment with dr monroe.

bart the general;after defending lisa bart gets hit everyday by nelson and he then gets help from grampa and his friends to beat nelso.

moening lisa;lisa feel like she dont know anymore and then she mets gingivitis murphy.

call of the simpsons;jalous of flanders homer buy an r.v the cheapest he can and go for a family trip that doesnt go very well as he gets mistaken for bigfoot.

the telltale head;bart want to impress jimbo,kearney and dolph by cutting jebediah springfield`s head off the statue until citizen knows its him.

jacques to be wild;homer gives marge a bowling ball for her birthday but in reality he bought it for him.marge wants revenge and she takes lesson with a french guy named jacque.

homer`s night out;bart takes pictures of homer dancing with a prostituate and everybody in town sees it and marge doesnt like that.

the crepes of wrath;bart get sent in france were he gets met by bad people while the simpsons receve a france student that spys for his country.

krusty gets busted;sideshow bob attacks kwick-e-mart in a krusty suit and krusty gets blame for it,bart then discover it wasnt krusty...

some enchanted evening;things are going bad for homer and marge until homer gets them a date to the restaurant and a hotel room,when bart and lisa discover that the baby siter is a criminal.

really a great season showing the firsts episodes of the serie and some of its best moments,highly recomended!

This is deffinetly not as good as the second one, but has a very good choice of special features. The language reels were fun to see how different the characters were. This is a list of all the episodes w/ date and runtime.
1.12-07-1989 Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire 23:09
2.01-14-1990 Bart The Genius 23:05
3.01-21-1990 Homer's Odyssey 23:07
4.01-28-1990 There's No Disgrace Like Home 22:23
5.02-04-1990 Bart The General 22:38

6.02-11-1990 Moaning Lisa 23:05
7.02-18-1990 Call Of The Simpsons 23:05
8.02-25-1990 The Telltale Head 22:42
9.03-18-1990 Life On The Fast Lane 23:06
10.03-25-1990 Homer's Night Out 23:03
11.04-15-1990 The Crepes Of Wrath 23:10
12.04-29-1990 Krusty Gets Busted 23:07
13.05-13-1990 Some Enchanted Evening 22:23

I hope you found this review helpful. I Would rate this a 4 out of 5 star DVD.